XII. BRAHMANUBHAVA UPANISHAD

The Sruthis declare "Ekam eva Adwithiyam Brahma" (Brahmam is One Only, without a second). That is to say, there is nothing besides Brahmam. Under all conditions, at all times, everywhere, Brahmam alone is. In the beginning, there was just Sath and nothing else, says the Chhandogya. The Mandukya names it as Santham, Sivam, Adwaitham. Only the evolved or the manifested can appear as two. That which is seen is different, one from the other and all from the seer. Moreover, the seen is the product of the seer's likes and dislikes, his imagination and feelings, his impulses and tendencies. When the lamp is brought in, the "snake" disappears and the rope alone remains and is understood as such. When the world is examined in the light of Brahma Jnana, the illusory picture which attracted and repelled, the picture of Duality disappears.

It is the "Two" that causes fear. If one is oneself the listener, the seer, the doer, the enjoyer, how can fear arise? Consider your condition when asleep! The external world is then absent; you are alone with yourself. The state is "One, without a second". Contemplation of that One and worship of that One leading to the realistion of Secondlessness gives you that experience. Like the other, He is Immanent; like the vital air, He is the Chith, the secret of all consciousness, activity, movement.

Sath, Chith, Ananda, Paripurna, Nithya - Brahmam is described by these five attributes. Through an understanding of these, Brahmam can be grasped. Sath is unaffected by Time: Chith illumines and reveals itself as well as all else; Ananda creates the utmost desirability; Paripurna knows no defect or diminution or decline, or defeat. Nithyam is that which is unaffected by the limitations of space, time and objectivisation.

In the light of this Brahmajnana, the World is a Mirage, temporary, unreal, negatived by knowledge. The World is but another name for "things seen, heard, etc.,". But "You, the Jivi, the seer are Sath Chith Ananda Brahmam" - remember. Get fixed in that assurance; meditate on the Om which is its best Symbol. Become aware from this moment that you are the Atma. When the fog of ignorance vanishes, the Atma in each will shine in its native splendour. Then, you know that you were pursuing a mirage in the desert sands, that you were taking as "real", objects that had a beginning and therefore had an end.

The mind becomes bound with attachment when it dwells upon an object, or desires it or dislikes it. To get free from such bondage, the mind should be trained not to dwell on any object or desire it or dislike it. It is the mind that binds and unbinds. If dominated by Rajas, it easily falls into bondage; if Sathwa predominates, it can achieve freedom.

He, who feels one with the gross body, pursues feverishly the pleasure derivable through the senses. Desire is the consequence of identification with the physical frame. Give that up and you are given up by desire. Joy and grief are like right and wrong, to be transcended. Affection and hatred are of the nature of the internal instruments of man. They do not belong to the "Liver" who lives with them, the Jivi or to the Atma, the essential reality of the Jivi.

The Atma is ever pure, ever free from attachment, for there is no second to get attached to. The Mundakopanishad (III-i) manthra says: Two birds, ever together, with significant and subtle wings, are perched on a tree. (The tree is the body and the twin birds are Jivatma and Paramatma). One bird is engaged in tasting the fruits, (The Jivatma experiences joy and grief from the deeds it engages itself in). The other just watches. (The Paramatma is subtler than the subtlest and is just a Witness).

How can this gross physical frame of plasma and pus be the pure, the self-luminous, the ever witnessing Atma? This is built up by food; this is ever in a flux; it was not, before birth nor is after death! It is perishable any moment. It can live on without a limb or two but the moment the vital air stops its flow, it starts to decompose. So, the body should not be taken as the chief or as the Be-all and the End-all.

The Yoga you should practise is: watch the agitation in the mind as a witness, free yourself from resolutions and even decisions, for and against. Have your mind and its journeys always under control. Yoga is the parallel progress of the Jivatma, every step in tune with the Paramatma. The goal is the merger of both: then, all grief ends. He who steadily takes up yoga with faith and who is prodded on by unswerving renunciation (non-attachment) can certainly win victory.

Chith in Sath-Chith-Ananda means Vijnana, the Super-knowledge that confers perfect equanimity and purity, in fact, the Atmajnana which can be experienced by one and all. In common parlance Vijnana is used to indicate the sciences but really it means the Higher Wisdom. In that Swa-rupa, "Self-form", there is no room for "impressions from Karma" nor for wishes that prompt Karma. Wishes vitiate the mind. Wishes lead to action, action leaves a scar, a Vasana on the Mind. Be alone with yourself and, then the mind can be negated. It is for this reason that Yogis retire into caves.

The Vasanas or impressions fall into two Categories; "Subha" or Beneficent and "Asubha" or Maleficent. Beneficent Vasanas help liberation. Japa, Dhyana, Good Works, Charity, Justice, Unselfish Service, Fortitude, Compassion - these are all beneficent. The maleficent tendencies of Anger, Cruelty, Greed, Lust, Egoism have to be uprooted with the help of the beneficent; and finally, as the thorn with which the thorn in the foot is removed, is also thrown away, the Vasanas that were used to overcome the Vasanas that hurt are also to be discarded. The Subhavasanas are the products of attachment and produce further attachment which may persist through many births. The Jivamuktha too has to conquer the Subhavasanas. For him, they should be like a burnt rope that cannot bind. In fact the entire group, sensual craving, desire, greed, gets burnt, the moment the Atman is visualised. He will not be inclined towards anyone or anything; nor will he be attached. Where the sun sets, there he lays himself down for rest. He moves among men, unknown and unrecognised, seeking no recognition, why even avoiding it.

When the seer and the seen are both the same, the joy is described as that of the fourth stage, the Thuriya stage. Beyond this, the Atman is certain to be reached. By dwelling constantly on the Atma and its reality, the attachment to the world will fall off. The Sadhana must be without break. The genuine Sadhaka must, with all his resources, redirect the mind from the affairs of the world and the objects that entice the senses, and concentrate on the austere purpose of knowing Brahmam.

Thamasic resolutions spell grief, Sathwic resolutions promote Dharma and help sustain society and individual; the Rajasic ones plunge you into the worldly flood. Give up these three and then you become entitled to the honour of Brahmajnana.

Brahmam is of immeasurable depth; how can it be measured and comprehended by this petty mind? It is Aprameya, beyond all possibility of being described by categories; it is Aparichhinna, without limit; it is Avyapadesya, beyond denotation; to grasp It through the senses is an impossible task.

"The Brahmam, which the Vedanta declares can be spoken of as only 'Not-this, not-this' is I-Myself; My reality is the Brahmam in the cavity of my heart; I am that Brahmam which Sadhakas strive to know and succeed in reaching. Brahmam is that which remains after subtracting the body, the mind, the vital airs, the brain etc.," This knowledge is reached by the discipline of negation. Just as by this method of elimination, you arrive at the conclusion, "So, this is Devadattha", by this principle of "Jagrathajagratha", the truth, "Thath thwam asi" "That thou art" is established. When the veil hiding the Jivi is removed, the Jivi is revealed as Paramatma or Parabrahmam. The Jivatma is of the essence of Paramatma.

"I" refers to this Reality, the Sath-Chith-Ananda: it is only ignorance that can use it to indicate the body! This ignorance and this wrong identification are the causes of continuous chapters of grief and joy. So, use the word "I" with discrimination to mean only your Brahmic reality; that will win Atmajnana for you.

For experiencing the Atma as your Reality, control of the senses, removal of physical attachment and truth are essential. The Brahmam is the Brihaspathi prompting the Buddhi, the Manas of the manas, the Ear of the ear, the Eye of the eye, the Illuminer of all the Self-Luminant One. His splendour is the light from which everything else emanates. He is the Basic support and Sustenance. In the Mind, He is wisdom; the Manas and the Buddhi do envelop the senses. Without Him, the Manas and the Buddhi are helpless to function; they emerge from Him and merge in Him like grass that is born from the earth and becomes part of it. Iron placed in fire becomes red and turns black again when cooled: so too, Buddhi becomes resplendent with Jnana by dwelling on Parabrahma who is Jnanaswarupa.

God is encased everywhere as the child in the womb. Some declare that they will believe only in a God that can be seen or demonstrated. This is the usual argument of the worldly minded. But it is not easy to see, with gross physical eyes, the Paramatma which is Subtler than the Subtlest. You must first get command over a powerful microscope, fit for the purpose. Either the Janana Chakshu or the Prema Chakshu is wanted, the Eye of Wisdom, the Eye of Love; only with these can you see God. Can you show others what the thing called "pain" is or "sweetness"? The eye cannot see an abstract thing like love, pity, mercy, virtue, faith; it is beyond its capacity.

But by words, actions and behaviour, we infer that a person has Love in his heart. So too, it is possible to judge whether a person is a Brahma-vid, how deep he is established in his own Reality, whether by fits and starts or steadily and securely. Divine Wisdom, Divine Treasure, Harmony with Nature, through these He can be identified and discovered. Therefore, endeavour by all means to earn either the Jnanachakshu or the Premachakshu.

Just as sugar in cane-juice, or sweetness in sugar, the Paramatma is ever Immanent in creation; He is the inner core of all Beings. He is everywhere, always in everything, He has no form; Atma is "A-thanu" "without body". It is the in-dweller, the Purusha. Only by throwing off the attachment to the body, and purifying the Mind and the Buddhi, can you merge in your Truth and earn the eternal Bliss, highest Prasanthi, the purest Wisdom. Thus only can man earn liberation from the bondage of birth and death.

"Deha", the word which means the body, is derived from the root "dah" meaning "burn". It implies that which has to be burnt. But, the Jnani has three bodies, the gross, the subtle and the causal. What is it then that is burnt? The fuels, Adhibhoutika, Adhideivika and Adhyatmika, called the Thaapathraya or the Hrdaya-Kaashta can burn and consume the three bodies quicker and more completely than fire. However informed a person may be, if he identifies himself with the body, he must be pronounced foolish. On the other hand, a person who is fixed in the faith that he is Sath-Chith-Ananda will be transformed into Divinity Itself. Do not identify the Jivi with the gross body of flesh and bone or even with the subtle and causal. The Atma must be identified with the Paramatma alone. Then only can permanent Bliss emerge. Joy and Grief, good and bad belong to the realm of the Mind, not to you. You are not the doer or the enjoyer of the fruits of the deeds. You are ever-free.

Virtue is dharma; Vice is Adharma. These are products of the Mind, strings that bind the heart. When Man experiences this higher Truth, he becomes free from both, and achieves the vision of Reality. As the silk worm gets entangled and imprisoned in the cocoon that it spins around itself, so Man too spins a cocoon of wishes around himself and suffers.

The Atma is ever dis-entangled. It is "A-samsari". "Not-bound by flux". Its nature is purity, wholeness, joy, wisdom; where Ego is, there bondage persists. Where there is no "I", there freedom holds sway. The "I" is the real shackle.

There are three obstacles in the path of the seeker after Atmajnana; obstacles of the past, the present and the future. These must be overcome. The Jivan-muktha is not worried over these. He has gone beyond the triple distinction of the seer, the seen and the sight; he has known that the distinction is artificial, a product of the mind. Once you have conquered the Triple illusion of Triputi, you will experience Brahmam in all things at all times.